Most New Jersey Residents Know Someone With Autism: Rutgers Study

NEWARK, NJ — About four out of five New Jersey residents know someone who has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). But there’s still an ongoing misconception about what autism is… and what it’s not, a recent poll says.

On Monday, researchers released the results of a Rutgers-Eagleton poll, which was conducted in partnership with the New Jersey Autism Center of Excellence at Rutgers University.

According to the study, 68 percent of the respondents said they know an ASD-diagnosed child outside of their family, 48 percent know an ASD-diagnosed adult outside of their family, 31 percent have a child family member with ASD, and 18 percent have an adult family member.

Yet despite these numbers, few “interact regularly” with individuals who have autism, researchers said.

In addition, only 39 percent identified autism as a “nervous system disorder” as opposed to a brain disorder or a mental illness, researchers said.

“The American Psychiatric Association has already included sensory issues in the DSM-5 as part of the criteria for diagnosing autism, yet the public still perceives autism as a behavioral problem or mental illness more than they do a disorder of the nervous system,” said Elizabeth Torres, associate professor of psychology and director of the New Jersey Autism Center of Excellence at Rutgers University.

“This misperception of what autism is and is not is especially detrimental to treating it in schools,” Torres said. “Without neurologists on hand, teachers and aides may not know how to cope with the somatic and sensory-motor issues that we have measured in research settings.”

There is a bright spot in the recent poll, though, researchers pointed out: more than four of five people said they support federal financial assistance for individuals with autism and their families.

Some other stats from the study include:

• 62 percent of New Jerseyans have seen or heard ASD referred to as a “behavioral problem”
• 55 percent think that a child with autism “does not have the ability to control his or her behavior”
• 54 percent have seen or heard ASD referred to as a “brain disorder,” and 52 percent have heard it referred to as a “mental illness”
• 67 percent think that ASD is best treated with a combination of both medication and behavioral therapy

Results are from a statewide poll of 1,008 adults contacted by live callers on landlines and cell phones from March 29 through April 9, 2019. The sample has a margin of error of +/-3.5 percentage points. Interviews were done in English and, when requested, Spanish. (Learn more about the study and its methodology here)

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